Following an article in the British Press about the menace of mobilty scooters I decided to look into the matter. A pensioner in the UK was seriously injured when a mobilty scooter crashed into her - leaving her with a broken hip and badly fractured thigh bone. She is now calling for a change in the law to force drivers to take out insurance. This was actually raised back in 2004 by a LibDem MP who stated that "motorised wheelchairs need to be govered by more safety regulations" In 2004 seven motorised wheelchair users died in crashes and 402 were involved in "adverse" incidents. So this is not a new problem.

In a previous article entitled "Madge Mania hits Benidorm" on 13th March, I commented that these vehicles are exempt from drink drive restrictions, can be driven on the pavements and parked anywhere - and also stated that they can achieve speeds of up to 6mph.You do not need a drivers license to hire one. This is actually quite a speed - especially if you are knocked down by one. A single person mobility scooter weighs ap. 70kg and on top of that there is the weight of the driver - which looking at the "types" of people hiring would definately be in the region of 80+ kgs ! This means you have a mass of 150-200kg coming at you at some speed.

I have spoken to Mario at Amigos24 in Benidorm ( 966 831 690)  with regards to insurance cover when hiring one of their mobility scooters. He said that all scooters are covered by a blanket 3rd party insurance cover included in the hire price. Damage caused to the scooter by the driver is NOT covered and therefore a personal liability. The 3rd party insurance covers damaging other peoples property or person. Amigos24 are an established and responsible hire company here on the Costa Blanca taking safety seriously.


So a word of caution when hiring these scooters. Double check the insurance cover as it can be very costly if you have a mishap!